An app server receives a device token from a software application on a mobile device. The device token identifies the mobile device for pushing notification messages of the software application to the mobile device via a push notification system. The mobile device is monitored while accessing the Internet in order to detect when the user may benefit from upgraded access to the Internet. The app server then sends one or more notification message(s) to the user such as by sending a message to the device token of the mobile device via the push notification system or to a display device associated with the user at the hospitality establishment. The notification message invites the user to upgrade their Internet access. The push notification system alerts the user to the notification message via the user interface of the mobile device even when the software application is not running on the mobile device.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of upgrading a high speed Internet access (HSIA) service entitlement via an audio-visual entertainment system at a hospitality establishment, the method comprising: allowing a guest of the hospitality establishment to access the Internet utilizing at least one mobile device; storing by one or more servers in a storage device a record associating a guest identifier of the guest with a particular room of the hospitality establishment assigned to the guest; limiting initial Internet access by the one or more servers to the at least one mobile device to a first bandwidth; monitoring by the one or more servers a bandwidth utilization of the at least one mobile device accessing the Internet; detecting by the one or more servers the bandwidth utilization exceeding a threshold; in response to detecting the bandwidth utilization exceeding the threshold, accessing the storage device by the one or more servers to look up the particular room that is assigned to the guest according to the record, and selecting by the one or more servers a particular display device of the audio-visual entertainment system of the hospitality establishment that is located within the particular room; sending by the one or more servers a command to the particular display device, the command causing the particular display device to display an alert message superimposed on top of video content the guest is currently watching on the particular display device, wherein the alert message allows the guest to upgrade access to the Internet for a monetary charge; receiving by the one or more servers an upgrade acknowledgement indicating that the guest has chosen to upgrade from the particular display device; and in response to receiving the upgrade acknowledgement indicating that the guest has chosen to upgrade, billing the guest the monetary charge and limiting subsequent Internet access for the at least one mobile device to a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth being higher than the first bandwidth.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the guest identifier is a loyalty program member identifier of the guest at the hospitality establishment.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring by the one or more servers of the bandwidth utilization for the at least one mobile device comprises detecting by the one or more servers when an average bandwidth utilized by the at least one mobile device over a period of time exceeds the threshold.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring by the one or more servers of the bandwidth utilization for the at least one mobile device comprises receiving by the one or more servers a message from a bandwidth monitor, the message indicating that bandwidth usage of the at least one mobile device is within a threshold level of its maximum allowable.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to receiving the upgrade acknowledgement, sending an upgrade message to a bandwidth manager to upgrade the bandwidth for the at least one mobile device.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending a notification message to the at least one mobile device, the notification message causing an application running on the at least one mobile device to present another alert message enabling the guest to upgrade their access to the Internet for the monetary charge.
7. A non-transitory processor-readable medium comprising a plurality of processor-executable instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform steps of: allowing a guest of a hospitality establishment to access the Internet utilizing at least one mobile device; storing in a storage device a record associating a guest identifier of the guest with a particular room of the hospitality establishment assigned to the guest; limiting initial Internet access to the at least one mobile device to a first bandwidth; monitoring a bandwidth utilization of the at least one mobile device accessing the Internet; detecting the bandwidth utilization exceeding a threshold; in response to detecting the bandwidth utilization exceeding the threshold, accessing the storage device to look up the particular room that is assigned to the guest according to the record, and selecting a particular display device of an audio-visual entertainment system of the hospitality establishment that is located within the particular room; sending a command to the particular display device, the command causing the particular display device to display an alert message superimposed on top of video content the guest is currently watching on the particular display device, wherein the alert message allows the guest to upgrade access to the Internet for a monetary charge; receiving an upgrade acknowledgement indicating that the guest has chosen to upgrade from the particular display device; and in response to receiving the upgrade acknowledgement indicating that the guest has chosen to upgrade, billing the guest the monetary charge and limiting subsequent Internet access for the at least one mobile device to a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth being higher than the first bandwidth.
8. An apparatus for upgrading a high speed Internet access (HSIA) service entitlement via an audio-visual entertainment system at a hospitality establishment, the apparatus comprising: a storage device; a first network interface coupled to a local area network at the hospitality establishment; a second network interface coupled to the Internet; and one or more processors coupled to the storage device, the first network interface, and the second network interface; wherein the one or more processors are configured to: allow a guest of the hospitality establishment to access the Internet utilizing at least one mobile device; store in the storage device a record associating a guest identifier of the guest with a particular room of the hospitality establishment assigned to the guest; limit initial Internet access to the at least one mobile device to a first bandwidth; monitor a bandwidth utilization of the at least one mobile device accessing the Internet; detect the bandwidth utilization exceeding a threshold; in response to detecting the bandwidth utilization exceeding the threshold, access the storage device to look up the particular room that is assigned to the guest according to the record, and select a particular display device of the audio-visual entertainment system of the hospitality establishment that is located within the particular room; send a command to the particular display device, the command causing the particular display device to display an alert message superimposed on top of video content the guest is currently watching on the particular display device, wherein the alert message allows the guest to upgrade access to the Internet for a monetary charge; receive an upgrade acknowledgement indicating that the guest has chosen to upgrade from the particular display device; and in response to receiving the upgrade acknowledgement indicating that the guest has chosen to upgrade, bill the guest the monetary charge and limit subsequent Internet access for the at least one mobile device to a second bandwidth, the second bandwidth being higher than the first bandwidth.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the guest identifier is a loyalty program member identifier of the guest at the hospitality establishment.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to monitor the bandwidth utilization by detecting when an average bandwidth utilized by the at least one mobile device over a period of time exceeds the threshold.
11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to monitor the bandwidth utilization by receiving a message from a bandwidth monitor, the message indicating that bandwidth usage of the at least one mobile device is within a threshold level of its maximum allowable.
12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein, in response to receiving the upgrade acknowledgement, the one or more processors are configured to send an upgrade message to a bandwidth manager to upgrade the bandwidth for the at least one mobile device.
13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to send a notification message to the at least one mobile device, the notification message causing an application running on the at least one mobile device to present another alert message enabling the guest to upgrade their bandwidth for the monetary charge.
14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein, in response to detecting the bandwidth utilization exceeding the threshold, the one or more processors are further configured to send a command to the particular display device causing the particular display device to turn on.
15. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors receive the upgrade acknowledgement from the particular display device as a result of the guest interacting with an upgrade screen on the particular display device.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the billing the guest the monetary charge comprises posting a charge to the particular room by communicating with a property management system (PMS) of the hospitality establishment.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the billing the guest the monetary charge comprises billing in real-time a credit card of the guest.
18. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to bill the guest the monetary charge by posting a charge to the particular room by communicating with a property management system (PMS) of the hospitality establishment.
19. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to bill the guest the monetary charge by billing in real-time a credit card of the guest.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
June 14, 2018
April 6, 2021
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